If people knew how Oneida silverware got started....

Most poeple are familiar with Oneida silverware. I wonder how many people know the history of Oneida? Some TFPers are sex historians, but maybe some members might not know the Oneida history. I know quite a few people, some of them close relatives, who wouldn't buy Oneida products if they knew.

The Oneida Community - New York History Net

Mod(s): I wasn't sure where to start this thread. Please move it to a more appropriate sub-forum in need be.

 

I own Oneida flatware. Never heard any of this.

I'm fine with where the thread is placed, their mods may feel differently so it's possible it could be moved.

Here's the doctrine of the movement you're discussing, yeah I just pulled it from your link but it's might help people cut to the chase so to speak-


Doctrines

(1) COMPLEX MARRIAGE - This is where every man and every woman is married to each other. They could engage in sexual intercourse, but could not be attached to each other as stated earlier.
(2) MALE CONTINENCE - This was a form of birth control where during and after sexual intercourse the man could not ejaculate.
(3) ASCENDING FELLOWSHIP - This is where the young virgins in the community were brought into the practice of Complex Marriage. The older godly members who were in a special group and were called Central Members would pick a virgin to be spiritually responsible for. This took place when the young people were about fourteen years old.
(4) MUTUAL CRITICISM - In Mutual Criticism, each member of the community that was being reprimanded was taken in front of either a committee or sometimes the whole community to be criticized for their action.
(5) CONFESSION - The members of the community, according to Noyes, were sinless after conversion, so no confession would be needed.
(6) REGENERATION - That Christ's death was not for the sins of man, but was the first blow to Satan. But that by believing in the death of Christ, one was released from sin, because Christ destroyed the central cause of sin. By believing then, one is regenerated (Whitworth 101-102).
(7) SEPARATION - The members did separate into a community, but their main separation was to be a sexual one.
(8) REVELATION - Noyes never said that he received special revelation, though he did have some twisted interpretations. Noyes once wrote an article in "The Berean" and emphasized the credibility of scripture and denounced those who denied the validity and relevance of scripture.
(9) EQUALITY OF THE SEXES - The Oneida Community believed in equality of the sexes as stated earlier.
(10) MILLENNIAL KINGDOM - That the Millennial Kingdom had been introduced in A.D. 70 at which time Noyes thought Christ had made His Second Coming

 

Name a religious that doesn't sound at least a little cultish.

 

I knew that in US history there were organized communities based on sexual freedom, some of them with a religious slant, but I never knew about Oneida.

Choosing the right word can be tricky. Earlier today I struggled with finding a good synonym for apology, and my above use of freedom is a good example.

 

There are certain ideas in there that I find very interesting. The Ascending Fellowship thing is pretty weird, but I suppose logical in that context:

But I like the complex marriage idea.

 

Maybe we should spin this off to a thread of it's own?

I'll see what I can do, mind if I quote some of your thoughts here?

 

It would definitely be considered child molestation today. But not back then.

This is in stark contrast to the Koreshan Unity Settlement in Ft. Myers Florida whose "elders" remained celibate and, consequently, died out.

 

I wonder if this theory could be sold to the Tea Party folks and Dittohead crowd? I mean they believe a whole bunch of other bull shit, why not this? Get the Koch Bros to sell them this line of BS. Could really help the US's future.

 

That's sort of the part and parcel of propagating a start-up religion. You're just not going to maintain the numbers unless you hang onto the children. It's ugly and distasteful, but that's the reality of it.

 

I'm all for the Complex Marriage, but the Male Continence seems a bit ambitious.

 

Mandatory polyamory and detachment. That's a new one on me.

 

Borla in a cult? Yeah guess that does make a little sense.

Answers many of my questions.

 

You and Bush Jr.

"A dictatorship is fine as long as I'm the dictator"

 

I must add, "It's good to be the king." The credit goes to Mel Brooks, although I'm sure that thought was expressed many times over the centuries long before Mel was born.